Dance Instructor Bios

Kelvin Amburgey -Modern and Jazz-has his undergraduate degree in Theatre from Morehead State University in Kentucky. and his Master of Fine Arts degree in Choreography from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Kelvin has performed professionally in Theatre and Dance across the United States with various companies ranging from the Pennsylvania Opera Theatre, and Unto These Hills to commercials for CMT. He spent several years with the Tennessee Dance Theatre and has performed with several local companies in dance and theatre. Kelvin has taught Dance and Theatre for the past 20 years in various studios, colleges and universities. He has taught all levels of jazz dance, modern, improvisation, and musical theatre dance at Vanderbilt University since 1993.

Rebecca Allen -Ballet- received her early dance training with the Jefferson Ballet Theatre (JBT) in New Orleans, Louisiana under the direction of Myra Mier.  She has performed lead roles and solos in ballets such as The Nutcracker, along with works by both classical and contemporary choreographers such as Gayle Parmelee and Marek Chowela.  She was a company member of JBT for several years before going on to study both ballet and studio art at Loyola University where she danced with the Loyola Ballet (1996-1997), and in 2001 she received her B.A. in cultural studies with an emphasis in studio art and theatre from the University of New Orleans.  She began to study modern dance in the fall of 2004 under the direction of choreographer Sharon Perry and at Tulane University in New Orleans.  She furthered her study at the American Dance Festival in the summer of 2005.  She teaches ballet at First Light Arts Academy in Franklin, TN and is currently dancing professionally with StillPoint Dance Theatre, a modern dance company based in Nashville, TN.

Danny Baye -Ballroom and Swing- in 1985, Danny started dancing and teaching at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio.  In 1987, he moved to Nashville to teach at a studio here, and went on to partner in (own) two dance studios, before he and his wife opened Dance World in 2002.Dance World is the largest ballroom studio--facility and teacher-wise--in the southeast.  Baye believes in teaching the full spectrum of ballroom dance as well as engaging in both social and competition, via group classes in Vanderbilt Dance Program as well as private lessons.

Cody Clevenger -Ballroom and Latin Dances- (Bio Pending)

Monica Cooley -Bharatanatyam- is a respected performer and teacher of Bharatanatyam, the classical dance style of southern India. Professionally trained in Madras, India by the renowned dancers, Narasimhachari and Vasanthalakshmi, Ms. Cooley has performed extensively in the United States and India. Her academic background in South Asian Studies, combined with years of personal experience living in Asia make her uniquely suited as an interpreter of Indian classical dance and culture for Western audiences. Since 1992, she has taught Bharatanatyam at her institution, Kala Nivedanam, a school of South Indian dance and music in Nashville. She has also been an instructor for the Vanderbilt Dance Program since 1995 and serves periodically as visiting professor for the Department of Dance at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri.

Emily Crampton -Ballet- began her formal dance education at the School of the Hartford Ballet, under the training of Alla Osipenko, Franco Devita, and Maria Youskevich. She performed with both the school, and the company, and graduated from the program with honors. She furthered her training through summers spent dancing with American Ballet Theatre and Boston Ballet. In 2000, Emily was a finalist in both the Youth America Grand Prix, and in the National Arts Recognition and Talent Search in Miami Florida. Emily danced with the Richmond Ballet for two years, and is currently dancing with the Nashville Ballet.

Nomalanga Eniafe -West African Dance- Nomalanga teaches movements based upon traditional African dance forms. Her style and class regime is designed to bring forth new life and new energy through the power of rhythm and dance. Her students develop a new consciousness about themselves and traditional African culture. Nomalanga has traveled to Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio and Kentucky to teach and perform her art.

Reischa Feuerbacher -Belly Dance- is an experienced Belly Dance Performer and Instructor focused on both traditional and modern fusion styles. She has been a dancer and choreographer for world fusion group Labyrinthe since 1999, and later founded The Labyrinthe Belly Dance Company. She has studied Middle Eastern with accomplished Arabic musicians and dancers such as Laylia White, Aziza and Suhaila Salimpour. Reischa received her degree in Theater Performance from MTSU, where she also served as choreographer for the university's production of Tales of Arabian Nights. Her solo performances include festivals, Arabic weddings, and restaurants. She is also teaching at places such as La Colmena Dance Studio and Centennial Arts Center.

Keith Fitzpatrick -Hip Hop Funk- was born in Nashville, TN. A self taught dancer, he has choreographed for the Dove Awards, and the CMT awards. He has also been featured in several TV spots for Toyota, WSIX, and a pilot episode of a television show. After working as Artistic Director for Remix Dance in Franklin, TN, Keith began teaching workshops across the country with Dancers Rock, and NYLANASH Entertainment, and is currently teaching Hip-Hop for several dance studios in the Nashville, TN area. Keith is also a talented music producer, working with hip-hop and R&B acts in a joint venture with Skyline Music Group in Nashville, TN. With a dance style that has an urban edge, with a lyrical twist, Keith is fast becoming a very sought after and respected Choreographer.

Stacie Flood-Popp -Jazz- received her BA in Art from Wittenberg University.  She moved to Paris, France at 21and began dance training in Modern, Jazz, Salsa, Hip Hop, and Contemporary Dance at two top studios in Paris: Cite’ Veron and Studio Harmonic. While in France, Flood-Popp danced professionally under Jean-Claude Marignale, Dominique Lesdema, Christopher Huggins, Bruno Collinet and Beverley DeFosses. In America, Stacie has trained in Vagonava Ballet, West African Dance, and several styles of Modern. She has studied extensively with renowned U.S. instructors Andre Fuentes, Leslie Scott, Scott Hislop, Kim Neal Nofsinger, Margi Cole, Allen Gartrell, and Mecca Vazie Andrews and has created a strong working relationship with them that affords her students a cutting-edge dance education.  She is currently the Modern and Advanced Jazz instructor at Nashville School of the Arts (a public arts magnet high school), and also teaches dance at Harpeth Hall and Vanderbilt University. Flood-Popp is co-director of found movement group with Erin Law.

Stephanie Hamilton -Tap- teaches dance and choreographs at Vanderbilt University, Harpeth Hall School and Montgomery Bell Academy. Locally, she also has taught dance at Columbia State Community College, Metro Parks and St. Cecilia Academy, as well as serving on the board of the Tennessee Association of Dance. Previously, she performed professionally as a member of Actors' Equity Association, and as a featured dancer for several regional theatre and ballet companies. Originally from Memphis, where she worked in dance, theatre, opera and TV, she is an award-winning choreographer and performer, having been on the boards or behind the scenes in too many musicals and concerts to count.

Erin Law, B.A., C.L.M.A. -Modern/Vanderbilt Dance Program Coordinator - attended Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY from which she graduated Cum Laude with a B.A. and High Honors in Dance.  She went on to the Integrated Movement Studies (IMS) program to pursue her Certification in Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis held at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City where she studied with Peggy Hackney, Janice Meaden, and Ed Groff. Erin has taught Modern Technique, Choreography, LMA, Contact Improvisation and Bartenieff Fundamentals as a guest at the Tennessee Association of Dance, Middle Tennessee State University, Vanderbilt University, among many other locations.  She has been a guest teacher/choreographer at Nashville School of the Arts public arts magnet school for four years and continues to create works with the students there.  In 2005, Ms. Law joined Shelter Repertory Dance Theatre with Kim Nofsinger, and in 2007, formed found movement group with colleague Stacie Flood-Popp.  Most recently, Law has been Artist-in-Residency for Berea College, Eastern Tennessee State University and for University of Virginia in 2008.  Erin is the Dance Program Coordinator at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. Her teaching philosophy is based around individuality; the interplay of improvisation and technique, function and expression, inner and outer, and stability and mobility; whole-person learning; and the fundamentals of human developmental movement as they are described and manifested through Bartenieff Fundamentals/the Basic 6 and Laban Movement Analysis. 

Elizabeth Martin -Hip Hop- has experience in many areas of the arts, including theater, film, television, opera, and visual arts; but since she was a child she has had a special passion for dance. Her earliest training was in her home town of Winston-Salem, North Carolina where she attended high school at the North Carolina School of the Arts majoring in music. Her college years were spent in Nashville and France, where she earned degrees in Music Business and French. In Nashville, she continued her dance studies at DC Dance Factory, Greenhills School of Dance, and Vanderbilt, studying hip-hop, modern, African, tap, jazz, and classical styles.  Elizabeth has appeared as a dancer in several music videos, including Trisha Yearwood’s Heaven, Heartache, and the Power of Love. In addition, she has been seen on television in Hype & Glory on the Gospel Music Channel, as backup dancer for Kirk Franklin on the Stellar Awards, and backing Priscilla Jones at the Gospel Music Awards. She toured in the rock opera !HERO starring Michael Tait, and has a dance role in the film Bolden! which is scheduled for release in 2008.  Elizabeth’s credits include extensive experience as a fashion model both on the runway and in print, leading roles in student films, and a notable appearance as a robotic gypsy in a commercial for the U.S. Army.  She has been on the faculty at Vanderbilt University since 2007.

Jennifer McNamara -Pilates and Pointe- received her early training at the Center of Ballet and Dance Arts in Syracuse, NY, continuing with the School of the Cleveland Ballet and the School of the Richmond Ballet.  Her teachers have included Deborah Boughton, Sheryl Mckechnie, Rory Woodmansee, William Griffith, Ruth Petrinovic, Arnot Mader, Malcom Burn, Jerry Schwender, and Leslie Peck.  Jennifer spent two years as a member of the Richmond Ballet where she danced in Balanchine's Serenade and Concerto Barracco, Val Caniparoli's Aubade, and Kurt Joos' The Green Table.  As a veteran member of Ballet Idaho/Eugene Ballet, Jennifer was fortunate to work closely with Artistic Director Toni Pimble on the creation of many contemporary ballets, including The Skinwalkers and Slipstream.  Her performing credits also extend to the Union pas de deux in Pimble's Common Ground, the title role in Jill Eathorne Bahr's Captured Angel, Spring in Paul Vasterling's Seasons, the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, and Lucy in Charles Bennett's full-length Dracula.  In 2000, she applied for and was awarded a Boise City Arts Commission grant for the creation of a ballet to honor the late Gene Harris.  Angel Eyes, danced with her husband, Matthew Christensen, premiered at the Governor's Awards in the Arts later that year.  Jennifer took a leave of absence during the 1996-1997 season to pursue work in New York with Gail Gilbert, a founding member of David Parsons' Dance Company.  Jennifer was a Principal Dancer with the Nashville Ballet from 2001-2007, creating the roles of Juliet in Artistic Director Paul Vasterling's Romeo and Juliet, Miss Edith Jelkes in his interpretation of Tennessee Williams' short story The Night of the Iguana, and most recently she has been featured as Lizzie Borden in Vasterling's retelling of the Fall River Legend.  She has been featured as Scheherazade in Dennis Spaight's visually stunning version of the story, the Mother in Heather Malloy's Harvest Home, in Salvatore Aiello's Satto, as Mina, in Vasterling's Dracula, in Sir Frederick Ashton's Les Painteurs, and as the Bell Witch in Ann Marie D'Angelo's world premiere ballet of the same name.  Jennifer is the first dancer to perform the role of The Chosen One outside the original cast of Salvatore Aiello's masterpiece, The Rite of Spring.  Elaine Thomas of the Royal Ballet coached Jennifer for her principal roles in the classical repertoire, including Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Myrtha in Giselle, and the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker.  Jennifer spent five years as a member of the faculty of the School of Nashville Ballet, teaching Ballet/Pointe Technique and Pilates.  She has taught workshops in Greeneville, Tennessee; Sun Valley, Idaho; and at her home studio in Syracuse, New York; as well as classes at DanceAspen, Ballet Idaho Academy, and the Governor's School for the Arts in Tennessee.  In addition to her Advanced Pointe and Pilates classes at Vanderbilt, Jennifer is currently a member of the faculty of the Ensworth School of dance and has recently completed her Pilates certification through Simply Pilates and Balanced Body University.  Jennifer was the 2005 recipient of an Individual Artist Fellowship in Dance from the Tennessee Arts Commission, and has twice been nominated for an outstanding teacher award at the Governor's School.

Sharon Perry -Modern/Vanderbilt Certificate in Dance Director - a modern dance choreographer and teacher, received her B.A. in theatre arts from Virginia Tech and her M.A. in modern dance from the University of Utah.  While living abroad for eleven years in the Eastern European nation of Latvia, she developed the first bachelor degree program in contemporary dance in the former Soviet Union at the Academy of Culture of Latvia.  She taught modern dance at the Riga Choreography School, the state ballet school for the Latvian National Opera.  Sharon was the director and founder of Selah Repertory Dance Theatre.  Some of her works, which were performed at the Latvian National Opera, include Handel’s Messiah; I Can’t Sit Down, four Negro spirituals; and Voices from the Ground, a modern ballet dedicated to the WWII Jewish Holocaust.  Sharon was the Latvian director of Creative Arts Europe (CAE), an arts and culture organization that networks artists throughout Europe.  She has recently served as artist in residency at Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi.  She is currently the artistic director and founder of StillPoint Dance Theatre, a contemporary dance company based in Nashville, Tennessee. 

Quamessia "Missa" Pruitt -Rhythmic Tap- is an innovative choreographer and instructor, with an energetic style and an inspiring class curriculum. A graduate from the University of Alabama in Birmingham, Missa received training at a local dance studio in Alabama and supplemented her dance training by studying with instructors from The Edge and Tremaine studios in LA, Broadway Dance Center in New York City, and Joel Hall Dance Center in Chicago, IL. Also, she has taught and choreographed for various studios in Chicago and the Southeast region. With over ten years of choreography experience, Missa's pieces have won numerous awards including several choreography awards. Missa strives to build confidence in her students while teaching them that "Without struggle there is no progress."

Thomas Shoemaker -Ballet/Vanderbilt Dance Theatre Artistic Director- was a principal dancer with companies including the Atlanta Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Augusta Ballet, and Charleston Ballet Theatre in a professional career that spanned 25 years. As a guest artist and choreographer, he has worked with numerous dance and theatre companies throughout the U.S. and abroad. Mr. Shoemaker also served as ballet master for the Augusta ballet from 2001-2004. As a teacher, Thomas has taught for high schools, performing arts schools, colleges and at numerous summer programs and festivals. He received his training, starting at the age of 10, from Tommy Armour, Robert Pike and Judith Newman, in his home town of Miami, Florida.

Joyce Smith -Modern and Jazz- is a professional dance artist who divides her time between teaching, performing, and administration. As an instructor she has taught modern, jazz, ballet and creative movement. She has been a guest teaching artist for the Sarratt Youth Art Institute, the Nashville School of the Arts, and has served as a substitute instructor for the School of Nashville Ballet. In addition to teaching technique classes for Vanderbilt University's Dance Program, Joyce teaches and choreographs for the dance companies at The Harpeth Hall School. As a performer she has danced the diverse repertory of numerous choreographers including Paul Taylor, Claire Porter, Joel Hall, Laurie Merriman, and Kim Nofsinger. Currently a freelance dancer, Joyce received her early classical ballet training from Lisa Boehm and continued to study ballet and jazz with various instructors throughout the Chicagoland area. She began her studies in modern dance and composition under the guidance of Laurie Merriman while completing her undergraduate degree. Over the past eight years Joyce has worked in arts administration and dance production for The Juilliard School Dance Division, the Vanderbilt Summer Dance Festival, the New York State Summer School of the Arts School of Dance, the American Dance Legacy Institute, the Illinois Summer School for the Arts, and Shelter Repertory Dance Theatre.

Gillian St. Clair -Yoga- started her dance training at eleven studying ballet, jazz, modern and choreography. She is the recipient of numerous scholarships in both modern and ballet, and was awarded full scholarship to the Whitman Dance Program in 1996. In addition, she was accepted into the San Francisco Ballet and Alvin Ailey Company in 1995. Since her arrival to Nashville, she has danced briefly with Nashville Ballet, Epiphany, and Foxwood Contemporary Dance Company. Gillian has been studying yoga daily for five years, and is a licensed yoga instructor. She has traveled to India to train intensively in Ashtanga yoga under V.K. Sheshadre. Jillian has also completed training courses with Doug Swenson and David Williams. Currently, she teaches Ashtanga and Flow classes at the Green Hills YMCA.

Wendy Windsor-Hashiguchi -Irish- has been dancing nearly all her life in styles ranging from ballet and tap to Bulgarian and Turkish. For nearly eight years, she competed in Scottish highland dancing, reaching and winning at the championship level. She has taught Irish step, céilí, and set dancing for several years now, having worked with such former world championship dancers as Michael Smith, Bill Maple, Deirdre Goulding, Donny Golden (Riverdance star Jean Butler's teacher), Eimear Ni Mhaoileadigh, and Kevin Broesler, as well as excellent traditional dancers of the sean nos or "old style" step dancing such as Patrick O'Dea. She is a fully certified instructor TCRG* through the Irish Dance Commission in Dublin.

Dance Accompanists:

Jeff Durham -Modern Percussionist- At age 8, Jeff abandoned the clarinet and spent the next ten years of his musical life in marching bands, playing as many different types of percussion instruments as possible; he has never looked back. While attending graduate school, he became enamored with the tonal variety and diverse world of hand drums and, after many years of living and playing in Los Angeles, Jeff returned to his home town of Nashville in 1998. In addition to studio recordings, he has played over 700 live shows with Celtic, Latin, Blues, Rock, and Pop bands and enjoys bringing an eclectic flavor to every style he plays.

Jeff Durham became an accompanist for Vanderbilt’s Modern Dance program in 2004 and considers it, “… a great pleasure and privilege to play for such talented teachers and dancers.”

Al Marcelli -Ballet Pianist- (Bio pending)

Sandra Partridge -Ballet Pianist- is proud to have been a part of the Vanderbilt Dance Program
since moving to Nashville in 1997. Sandra received her Bachelor of Music in piano
from the University of Alabama and went on to study at The Boston Conservatory in
Boston, Massachusetts. Her love of silent movies and interest in pantomime and
dance led her to begin working with dancers and actors at the Conservatory and at
Boston Ballet, where she accompanied classes for three years. Sandra enjoys
helping beginning dance pianists learn the craft and has written the handbook,
Concise Guide for the Beginning Ballet Accompanist. Sandra is also a graphic artist and supporter of animal issues. She has volunteered with Nashville area animal shelters and in 2005 visited Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah.